


So fair and full of flesh

by Nary



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: Comedy, Fae & Fairies, Folklore, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-16
Updated: 2010-04-16
Packaged: 2017-10-08 23:48:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/80749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nary/pseuds/Nary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur makes the mistake of accepting a ride from a mysterious woman on a white horse on the eve of Beltane, and it's up to Merlin to rescue him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So fair and full of flesh

Merlin would have thought Arthur would know better by now than to accept a ride from a mysterious woman on a white palfrey who just happened to pass by when they were toweling off after bathing in the river. She had been very beautiful, of course, which only made Merlin the more suspicious, but Arthur had ignored his whispered misgivings and taken her hand.

Strangely strong for such a delicate creature, she hoisted him up behind her. Merlin barely had time for a quick "Maybe this isn't such a good idea..." before the horse reared up on its hind legs, the tiny bells in its mane tinkling, and galloped headlong into the side of the hill. Merlin muddied his arms to the elbows digging for some hidden passage where the pair had vanished, but was finally forced to return to Camelot alone.

The story he spun for Uther was, he thought, quite clever ("Your son, noble prince that he is, is escorting a frail old woman with a heavy load of firewood home to her distant cabin in the forest") but it would only hold up for a day or so. He would have to find some answers and get Arthur back before then.

Gaius clucked his tongue when Merlin confessed what had truly happened. "This is very serious indeed."

Merlin watched anxiously as he fetched down three large tomes. "That bad? Three books bad?"

Gaius glanced up long enough to arch an eyebrow at him. "Do you know what tonight is?"

"Tuesday? …Beef stew night?"

"It is the eve of Beltane, Merlin. The borders between this world and the world of the fair folk are thin. I fear Arthur has been taken by one of them. They are often attracted to skilled musicians and sensitive poets…"

"Why'd they take Arthur, then?" muttered Merlin.

"…And to mortal beauty," finished Gaius with a stern frown. "If he cannot be rescued tonight, he will remain beyond the reach of any mortal until at least half a year has passed."

"Half a year?!" Merlin tried to imagine explaining that to Uther. "But... there's a way to get him back, right? You said so!"

Gaius sighed. "There is one possibility... but the endeavour is traditionally undertaken by a… a maiden. Perhaps we could ask the Lady Morgana to..."

"No," Merlin said firmly, and not only because he was fairly certain the Lady Morgana wasn't a maiden. "I'll do it. Just… just tell me what I have to do."

And so it was that he found himself crouched in a shrubbery near the deserted crossroads at midnight. It was chilly for May, and the bracken was rather prickly, and he sort of had to pee but didn't dare leave his post in case he missed the main event. His legs were just beginning to fall asleep (only slightly ahead of the rest of him, in truth) when he heard the faint jingle of bells. The fairy host was approaching.

He bit his lip as the black horse passed him by, noticing that its hooves trod some inches above the hard-packed ground. He risked a glance at its rider, and was simultaneously alarmed and relieved that he couldn't see his features for the dim glow his skin gave off.

Next passed a brown stallion and its rider. Merlin held his breath, entertaining fearful visions of being snatched up by the collar of his shirt and dissected with the needle-sharp blade that hung at the creature's side, but the elfin knight passed him by calmly, and Merlin found he could breathe again.

He tensed his legs, readying himself as best as he could. The white horse and its rider were almost within his reach, but to move too soon would, he sensed, be suicide. Screwing up his courage, he waited a heartbeat longer, two, and then launched himself in a full-on tackle at the horse's rider. He had a momentary glimpse of Arthur's shocked face as he caught hold of him and bore him to the ground with a thud that felt like it must have cracked ribs.

Then the screaming started. Some of it was his.

Despite Gaius's warnings, he was unprepared when Arthur changed for the first time. Strong wings beat furiously against his arms, and talons clawed at the soft skin of his belly, and he nearly let the eagle go, but somehow he forced himself to hold onto it.

The second form was more terrible still, clawed and fanged and slavering for his blood. Merlin squeezed the bear as tightly as he could, more hanging on for dear life than truly able to restrain it. _Only an illusion,_ he told himself, but it was almost impossible to believe.

The adder was almost a relief after that, though it was slim and slippery and hard to get a grip on. He tangled it up like a ribbon in his fingers and had a moment to think _This must be almost the last… oh, bugger_ before the final change. Somehow that made it worse, knowing what was coming and having to hold on anyway.

The red-hot iron burned his flesh, and he could smell himself cooking, like roasted meat left too long over the fire. He pulled the brand to his chest even as every nerve in his body willed him to drop it. It was Arthur in his arms, he told himself, Arthur searing into him, Arthur melting him away…

Somewhere, the Queen of the Fairies shrieked her anger at being robbed of her prey, but both thief and prize were beyond hearing.

After what felt like an eternity, Merlin opened his eyes. He lay atop Arthur, trembling, clinging hard to him for fear of another transformation, but none was forthcoming. It was over.

Merlin's skin fairly itched with the feel of ancient magics crawling all over him, but his wounds, at least, seemed to have vanished along with the fairy host. He stretched his fingers, finding them all present and accounted for, and laughed out of sheer relief and joy.

"I'm glad you find this so humourous," said Arthur dryly. "Are you going to let me up?"

"Not quite yet," Merlin replied, and kissed him. Gaius had somehow neglected to mention that Arthur would be naked when he was returned to his true form, but it did make things rather convenient.

"It's cold," Arthur complained when they broke apart, but only half-heartedly. Merlin loosed him long enough to wrap his cloak about his lord's shoulders, soft wool for him to lie on, reclining back against the hillside. Merlin took his cock in his hand, felt it smoulder there like a brand, and clasped it tighter. Arthur's gasp was all the reward he craved, Arthur's fingers skillfully returning the favour a wondrous surprise. When they came together, mouth against mouth and hips against hips, Merlin thought he heard, in the distance, a peal of tiny bells. But he might have imagined it.


End file.
